One of the many brief extrageneric texts found among her late papers after her
death, Dickinson's final intentions toward this fragment remain unknown. It may
have been destined for incorporation into a poem, a letter, or another
composition; alternatively, it may be an experiment in aphoristic form; or,
possibly, a compressed lyric poem unrecognized as such because of the crudeness of
its material container. Variants occurred to Dickinson both during the initial
drive of writing—after writing "has" she immediately wrote "holds" next
to it—and later, during a second reading, when she probably added yet
another variant, "needs," for "has" above the line and in a smaller hand.